ANTHONY ANDREU admits he has former Scotland star John Collins to thank for his success on and off the field at Hamilton this season.

The Accies midfielder left French football to sign for the ex-Celt at Livingston last season before ending up in Lanarkshire and dating his former mentor’s daughter.

Five goals from his last six games is a record Collins would have been proud of and Andreu insists he’s out to add to his tally at Queen of the South today.

The 25-year-old said: “John Collins has been one of the biggest influences in my life.

“He’s taught me to be positive in every game I play and is one of the best managers I’ve played under.

“I certainly have a lot to thank him for. He’s always wanted the best for me and taught me so much.

“I’m grateful to him for that – and John also gave me permission to go out with his daughter so I can’t have a bad word said about him.

“I have a great relationship with Julia and it helps me to be happy on and off the pitch which is so important. You need balance. Alex Neil is the same as my manager at Hamilton and tries to give me as much confidence as he can.”

Accies can jump two points ahead of Championship leaders Dundee with a win at Palmerston but Andreu doesn’t like making predictions about the title race.

He said: “I don’t know if we will be at the top of the table come the end of the season but the plan is to try to win every game.

“I believe we put too much pressure on ourselves recently because we were too involved with the chasing game we had going with Dundee. We weren’t really focusing on each match.

“But in the last few weeks we have started to only focus on each game as it arrives and now we have to win the next game at Queen of the South.

“That’s the approach we need to get results as we need as many points as we can.

“I’m loving life in Scotland. Scoring goals from midfield is hugely important for me as it adds something to the team.

“I’ve scored nine so far which I’m pleased about but I always want to score more.

“This is the best spell I’ve had since I arrived in Scotland but every single year since I became a professional player I’ve added more and more goals.

“I scored seven for Livingston last season and believe I can score even more by the end of this season.”

Queens boss Jim McIntyre insists they’re due a rub of the green against Accies as they bid to build on last week’s win over Dumbarton.

He said: “We’ve yet to beat Hamilton in the league but the three games have been close.

“When we defeated them in the Scottish Cup we were a bit fortunate but have deserved better in the other games.

“Hamilton are a good side with quality players but so are we. There’s nothing between the teams.

“Our aim is to claw back ground on the clubs ahead of us. This is the ideal opportunity with a few sides not in action.